"And the master plan that has been developed by TGH, incorporating not only the inland rail terminal and inland port terminal but the freight precincts, they are key."

Mr Jones said the job now was to sign businesses up.

"We believe when customers see the value on the table that we have tested and we are confident in that they will get on board like we have."

Over the past 15 years, Tainui Group Holdings iwi has built an extensive portfolio of commercial and residential property and a range of investments including hotels, retail and transport interests.

Chair Rukumoana Schaafhausen of the tribe's executive committee, Te Arataura, said the Ruakura project was just one part of the vision for the iwi and the region.

"What is good for Waikato-Tainui is good for the city of Hamilton, is good for our region and is good for Aotearoa."

Rukumoana Schaafhausen, the chair of Te Arataura, which is the executive committee of the Waikato-Tainui iwi. Photo: RNZ / Andrew McRae

"The more that we link up - in terms of our expertise, our assets, our resources - to be a solution, the better off we all are," she said.

Hamilton City Council city growth manager Kelvyn Eglinton believed the scale and size of the inland port would eventually attract businesses not directly related to the project to the city.

"So we know that there will be ancillary businesses that follow the basis of the port and that largely will come out of Auckland, largely because the cost of land and congestion times and all those things that add costs to a business, where they can come through here and operate with a business of size and scale that previously didn't exist."

The first stage of the Ruakura inland port will cost $50 million and is expected to open for business in early 2019.

New Zealand has been tied together by a rail system that has been unfolding across the country since the late 19th century. Today up to 18 million tonnes of freight is moved via rail, every year. It's… Audio